Policeman injured, police car burnt outside Al-Azhar University dorms

A picture taken on January 4, 2014 in Cairo’s eastern Nasr City district shows a police vehicle burning outside al-Azhar university after it was torched by students. (AFP PHOTO/KHALED KAMEL)

Minor clashes between police forces and the Students Against the Coup (SAC) movement at Al-Azhar University on Saturday resulted in the burning of a police car and the injury of an officer.

Ministry of Interior spokesman Hany Abdel Latif said that around fifty people hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at police forces located on-campus in front of the Faculty of Agriculture building.

“A police car based outside the dormitories was burnt, and a policeman suffered from burns as he was inside the car,” Abdel Latif added.

The spokesman affirmed that the examination process has continued, unaffected by violence on campus.

Ahmed Adel Saied, spokesman for the Al-Azhar University student union, said that around 20 students were injured with birdshots, mostly in the eyes and the legs. He also added that police forces have used teargas extensively on campus.

Saied added that there is no current count of arrests: “Multiple armoured personnel carriers came in front of the dormitories and started to arrest people randomly after the police car was burnt.”

The spokesman confessed that the number of students boycotting exams is decreasing; “however, the number of students boycotting exams is still notable,” Saied added.

Al-Azhar University has been a usual host of demonstrations and violent clashes since the start of the semester, where students are protesting against the death and detainment of fellow students since the dispersal of sit-ins at Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Al-Nahda Square, as well as the oust of former president Mohamed Morsi.